New Life Mission remodeling former Hacienda Girls Ranch as haven for homeless moms, kids

Rendered homeless after escaping a domestic violence situation, Brittany and her 7-year-old daughter were forced to sleep in her car at night because of tight finances.

Then they spent six stressful months living amid crowded quarters inside a Brevard County emergency shelter before they secured housing — and a support system to reboot their lives — with New Life Mission in Melbourne.

"It was a humbling experience to be able to keep my toothbrush in the bathroom — and not to have to take it to my bedroom and lock it up every day," recalled Brittany, who is 32.

"When I was able to have my own bathroom, I cried the first night," she said.

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New Life Mission (formerly called Brevard Rescue Mission) is a Christian nonprofit that provides housing for homeless women with children, typically for one to two years. The holistic program includes child care, counseling, financial coaching, education and employment assistance.

Now, the organization is nearly doubling its housing capacity via a $3 million capital campaign. New Life Mission is remodeling the former Hacienda Girls Ranch in Melbourne as a communal haven for moms in hardship who were living in vehicles, couch-surfing with friends and relatives, living in low-cost motels, and facing looming evictions.

"It's a solution. When they go through the program and they're done, now they're back out in society and being contributing members. And hopefully, will never return to homelessness again," said Tim Wilson, development director.

Demand from struggling mothers continues to increase across the Space Coast amid inflation and rising rents: Last year, New Life Mission's calls and applications seeking help skyrocketed 181%, CEO Amy Lyon said.

"We're seeing more evictions. And people can't make ends meet. The cost of daycare has gone up, along with the cost of groceries — everything, " Lyon said.

"And we can bridge that gap. For some of them, it's just having time to save money," she said.

New Life Mission was founded by recently retired CEO Stacia Glavas after a poverty-stricken young mother with a 1-year-old baby suffered an asthma attack and collapsed in front of her Rockledge home in 2006. Glavas and her husband, Pete, helped her back to her nearby apartment — and were shocked to see the woman was living in squalor.

Hacienda Girls Ranch is a cluster of buildings on Croton Road that provided living accommodations and educational opportunities for more than 30 years for teenage girls who had problems at home. Children’s Home Society of Florida sold the 25-acre property, which remains mostly wooded, to New Life Mission for $2.25 million in May 2021.

Before the ranch acquisition, New Life Mission could house up to 21 families in small apartments at a cluster of Eau Gallie buildings on U.S 1 and two Melbourne facilities with confidential addresses. Some clients, like Brittany, are fleeing domestic violence situations.

Renovations and remodeling continue at the former girls ranch, where 15 to 18 additional families will share kitchens and laundry rooms and live in buildings staffed by supervisory "house moms." Named New Life Village, the property also includes a daycare center for children in the program.

Future plans call for construction of a two-story dormitory that could house 60 more families. Lyon said there is no timetable for this expansion phase.

During the past fiscal year, New Life Mission reported $1.8 million in operating income (including $679,000 from a capital campaign) and $1.4 million in operating expenses (including $127,000 in campus renovation costs).

Donations and fundraising from individuals, churches and businesses provide the lion's share of funding. An annual luncheon fundraiser at the Hilton Melbourne Rialto Place ballroom typically generates roughly half of the operating budget, said Staci Donovan, volunteer and community engagement director. The two-day event, titled “Opening Eyes to Homelessness," took place in late April.

At the former girls ranch, New Life Mission residents Brittany, Tiffany and Jelema worked together unpacking and organizing a roomful of donated health and beauty goods — think makeup, clothing, shoes, hair products and curling irons — to create a dressing boutique for resident moms.

Tiffany, 39, is a victim of domestic violence. After her husband died in December 2021, her utilities were being shut off at her mold-infested home in the Melbourne-Palm Bay area.

"I was in a bit of a situation. And I was looking and praying for a place. I have a 4-year-old son, and I have a 15-year-old daughter. So I was praying for some hope during that hard period," Tiffany said.

The family moved into a New Life Mission apartment in April 2022. Describing the regimented program as "a single-mom boot camp," she said she has regained her cosmetology license, is looking for a job, and is sorting out her health issues.

"They teach you different life skills, like budgeting. Things that I really didn't know, coming from being in more of a controlling-type of relationship. And I didn't have those skills," Tiffany said.

"The counseling for me and my children has been phenomenal. We've grown a lot. If you knew me back then, I was a completely different person. I couldn't really hold a conversation. I was very scared. I was nervous about the future, and what it really looked like," she said.

"Now, I'm not. My future looks very clear and bright."

Rick Neale is the South Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @RickNeale1

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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: New Life Mission revamping Hacienda Girls Ranch for homeless moms, kids